Hardy heading to Sarasota to continue injury rehab

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy is headed to Sarasota, Fla., to continue the rehab on his fractured left foot. Still in a walking boot and crutches, the hope is that the rehab goes well enough that he’ll be able to undergo some weight-bearing exercises while at the organization’s minor league facility and start doing some baseball activities when the Orioles return from their road trip May 30.

Hardy has been on the DL since May 2 and at the time it was estimated that he could be out roughly six weeks. That’s still in the ballpark – give or take a week or so.

“We actually took an X-ray yesterday. It looks good,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “(Athletic trainer Richie Bancells) was saying, if you didn’t really know exactly what you were looking for in the exact spot, you wouldn’t see anything. Almost healed, I’m hoping when we get back off this trip, he’ll be back here (to workout).”

Because he’ll have a layoff of over a month, Hardy likely will have to go on a minor league rehab assignment before re-joining the club on the field.

“That would be my first blush at it, that maybe he’d get some at-bats somewhere. It would be over a month,” Showalter said. “We haven’t gotten that far with him. Who knows? Maybe he stays there, it’s going so well that he stays there a few days and gets a few (at-bats) down there. They’ll still be active down there.”

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Showalter said Hardy has another assignment while in Sarasota. He wants the veteran infielder to prepare a scouting report on some of the young players in extended spring training.

“I gave him a list. He’s on a mission,” the manager said. “I gave him about six or seven names. I said, ‘Come back with a full report on these six or seven guys down there, and send it.’ So, he’s got something to do.”